


Let's Pretend

by emilyfmorgan



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: I Don't Know Why This Exists, amy has a baby, jake and amy friendship, just let me have this, she's single, the idea was stuck in my head and i wanted to write
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2019-10-03 05:26:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17277926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilyfmorgan/pseuds/emilyfmorgan
Summary: Amy Santiago is a 27-year-old newly qualified detective who has just got a job in the 99th precinct and has been partnered with the childish Jake Peralta. But she has a secret, and doesn't want to be judged for it, fearing the worst.





	1. Keep It Secret

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know why I did this, but I'm kinda happy with the storyline but my writing is really sucky at the minute. anyway, it turns out I love writing a little bit of angsty Amy and creating a new reality for these characters. I'm not sure how long this going to go on for, so I guess we'll just wait and see.

This precinct was nice. The Captain was amazing, and the people seemed okay. Maybe Peralta was a little childish, but she could deal with that. The main thing was that she finally had a job, and she could settle down. With job hunting finished, she could go home and relax, relieving her mother of her duties. Driving home she was able to fully relax for the first time that day, taking a deep breath as she pulled out of her parking space and onto the unfamiliar roads within the 99th precinct.

She could hear the TV blaring through the freshly painted door and shaking her head she unlocked it and walked into her new home. The cardboard boxes that before had been piled high down the hallway had now vanished, and she smiled in spite of herself, loving how her mother was just as obsessive as her.  Shaking off her jacket she heard footsteps hurrying to meet her, feeling small arms wrap around her legs.

“Hello miga! How are you? Did you have a good time with abuela?” She asked the small girl currently gripping her calves.

“Yeah mama!” The child replied enthusiastically, bouncing away towards the older woman sat at the pinewood table. “We did some colouring and walked around the new park.” She said, clambering back onto her abuela’s lap.

“Oh really? Was it fun?” She asked the girl, mouthing a thank you to her mother as the older woman started edging towards the door. “Can you go and say goodbye to abuela before she goes home?”

The toddler ran towards her grandma as she left the shiny new apartment, leaving the young detective and her daughter alone in their new home. There were still boxes everywhere that needed unpacking, she hadn’t got around to them yet. She made a mental note to sort them out when she’d put her tired toddler to bed.

“Okay little one, it’s _way_ past your bedtime.” She said, scooping the giggling girl up in her arms. This was going to be tricky.

 

After what seemed like hours, she was finally asleep, and as the door finally closed, leaving a tiny gap between it and the doorframe, she padded down the hall in her sensible black socks into the living room. It wasn’t much. Yet. But it was hers, and that felt amazing, especially after everything that happened, you know, before. Falling back into the soft leather seats of the couch, she realised it was the first time she had relaxed all day. First days, as it turns out, are pretty tough when all you could think about are the little girl waiting patiently at home and your new partner, who seemed more childish than her actual child.

Grabbing her current book off the coffee table in front of her, she breathed a sigh of relief as she could delve into a world that wasn’t hers for once, one that wasn’t filled with the anxieties of her daily life. One that felt comfortable and easy. One where she wasn’t a single mom whose ex had left her the minute it got difficult. Not telling the squad might be difficult, but it’ll be easier to make friends and hang out with them if they don’t know the ins and outs of her life. Yeah. It’ll be easier.

As if on cue, tiny little hands grasped for a grip on her mothers’ clothes. She reached down, pulling her up onto her lap and brushing her dark raven hair out of her face. She saw her toddler’s tiredness in her eyes, but the determination to stay up until she went to bed shone through the dark eyelashes surrounding the dark green colour, so unlike her mother’s. They shone with a bright inquisitiveness that she hoped her daughter would never lose but had a warmth to them that was all Amy. She finally just gave up all hope of her sleeping in her own bed, instead carrying her gently into her room, pulling her closer to her as she laid down on the soft new mattress.

Just then a buzz and a bright light came from her phone sat on the bedside table. Reaching carefully over her daughter’s head, she saw a message from an unknown number. It read simply: COME TO SHAWS.

Who the hell was that? And what was Shaw’s?

WHO IS THIS? She typed back quickly. Almost immediately she saw the ‘dot dot dot’ that had always caused her no end of anxieties.

IT’S JAKE FROM WORK. COME TO THE BAR BY THE PRECINCT. EVERYONE WANTS TO KNOW WHERE THE NEW GIRL WENT.

Oh god. How was she supposed to answer this? She’d decided not to tell anyone about her daughter, she wanted to keep that part of her life away from work, to just have herself not judged by anyone.

CAN’T SORRY. GOT TO DO SOME WORK AT MY APARTMENT.

UGH FINE. SEE YOU TOMRROW WIERDO.

Weirdo? With a sigh she placed her phone back on her bedside table, squeezing her daughter closer to her as she started to fall asleep, finally relaxing into the dark depths.


	2. Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake finds out about Amy's secret, and she tries to figure out how to handle her two worlds colliding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let's get a little further into this weird little world I've created. the good news is Amy's daughters name is revealed in this chapter. it took a while to figure out what I wanted to call her and I'm not sure if I like it but we're going to go with it anyway.

It was two months into her job at the 99 when she heard a sharp rap on the door, jolting her out of her coffee-making induced trance. As she went to open the door, she wasn’t exactly sure who she was expecting to find, but it certainly wasn’t her new partner.

“Hey.” She said startled.

“Hey. I was just wondering why you haven’t come to the bar since you started, and it looked like something was bothering you, but now I see that you have something more important to do.” He said, looking around her into the apartment.

Suddenly it hit her as she heard little footsteps patter down the hallway and was sure it showed on her face as Jake’s expression mimicked her own thought process.

“Mama! Can you help me get my shoes?” She squealed in an excited way only toddlers can at 7:30am.

“Oh, sweetie, in a minute. I’ll just finish talking to Jake.” She said, reaching down to lift up her daughter, quickly walking her back down to her room so she could finish getting dressed. As she closed the door, she felt the heat rise up her cheeks as she turned to face Jake, ready to answer the waterfall of questions that were undoubtably on their way. Instead, she got a very unexpected response.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

He sounded hurt, and a glance up to his eyes confirmed this. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him look so dejected about something in the two months they’d worked together. This was going to be a lot harder than she thought it was going to be.

“I thought it would be easier.” She was surprised to hear her answer come out as barely more than a whisper.

“Why?” Confusion and hurt were still evident in his voice as he questioned her. She led him towards the couch in the front room now, knowing that if she didn’t get all this out then work was going to be beyond awkward. Taking a deep breath, she started to explain the decision she’d made so long ago now.

“When I found out I was pregnant with her, I was with a detective. I hadn’t been a cop for long, only about a year, and I was terrified. The minute I told him he miraculously got transferred and went to work in Boston. My mom and dad didn’t know what to think, they hadn’t even met him and now he’d abandoned me and my unborn child? I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have any friends and I felt completely alone and isolated.” She started shaking, taking deep breaths to stop the tears falling. “I didn’t even find out I was actually pregnant until I was two and a half months. I was 24, single, with a baby. It was exactly the opposite of where I wanted to be. After I had her I took my maternity leave and then tried to get back to normal, but it was like everyone was treading on eggshells around me. Every time I tried to go out on patrol they’d immediately try and stop me. It was like I couldn’t be a cop anymore. So, when I was finally up for a promotion and I could move to a different precinct, I did. It was my chance to start over. I realised that I didn’t have to tell anyone about her. I mean she’s three, it’s not like it’s anyone else’s business. I just never thought that you’d find out like this.”

Jake was staring at her, and she could see the disappoint in his face. She could feel their friendship shattering as she tried to find more of her reasoning. Hot tears were now making paths down her cheeks, as she was finally unable to hold them in anymore. Strong arms pulled her close to his chest as she continued to cry, letting all her fear and anger out after so long.

He kept her close, letting her cry everything out that she needed to. He walked her over towards her couch, setting her down gently on the soft leather, covering her with a blanket. As he left the room, he left Amy to wonder what he was doing, but soon heard him talking to her daughter, and she smiled into the cosy blanket now wrapped around her shoulders. The tiny giggle rang out through the apartment, leaving Amy to wonder how the most immature man she’d ever met could be good with kids. Taking a deep breath, she looked up and saw Jake chasing after her into the living room just as she collided with her legs.

“So, she wouldn’t tell me her name, but we did just play a game called ‘who can find mommy the fastest?’ Which, I think it’s safe to say, she won.” He said, smiling down at the two of them.

“She definitely did. Her name’s Emilia Maeve.” She said, wiping her eyes as she lifted her up onto her lap. “Isn’t that right Emmy?”

As she giggled and curled into Amy’s chest, Jake stroked the top of Emilia’s head, reaching up to wipe away the tear tracks on Amy’s cheeks. She had to force herself not to shy away from his touch, leaning into his hand a little.

“Isn’t today your day off? Why are you up so early?” Amy asked him, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen on the room.

“I felt like there was something bugging you, like you were holding something back, so I came to see if you were alright. Isn’t it your day off too?” He said, brushing off her question.

“Yeah three-year-olds don’t exactly care about days off or lie ins. We’ve been up since 5:45.”

“Well, today is your lucky day!”

“What are you talking about?”

“I am going to order you a take away because I have seen you try and fail to cook before and we are going to sit here with Emmy all day and watch movies. How does that sound?” He was still stood up, staring at her with eyes so similar to her own, and she had no way to refuse.

“Why are you doing this?”

“You just seem like you could use a day off.”

It felt like she should be insulted, but she actually felt some form of relief that someone finally knew about Emmy. The fact that it was Jake made her feel a little safer, but she wasn’t about to admit that to him.

“You do know that we still have to entertain a very energetic, very excitable Emmy all day.”

“That will _not_ be a problem I am great at entertaining small humans.”

“On account of the fact that you’re basically a toddler yourself?” Amy teased.

“Possibly. Anyway, I know all the words to Tangled and Frozen. We are gonna PAR-TAY!”


	3. Partners

The rest of the day was complete heaven for Amy Santiago. All she had wanted for Emmy was to have a father figure in her life, someone her daughter could turn to when Amy wasn’t there. She had never imagined it would be someone like Jake, but all day he had played with her and entertained her, giving Amy a well-deserved break and bringing some amazing Chinese take out while he was at it. As the night started closing in on the three of them and Emmy’s energy started fading away, Amy started to dread Jake leaving. After all this time he wanted someone to curl up against, to feel someone else’s warmth as she drifted off into sleep, to have someone to share Emmy with. But he couldn’t do that. She had no right to want to bring Jake into her life this far. She wasn’t entirely convinced that he would stay.  
She noticed that her daughter breathing had slowed into the comfortable rhythm of sleep, and slowly moved her legs to carry her away to her room.  
“Don’t worry, I’ll go.” Jake whispered in her ear, scooping up the small body in his arms and carefully walking through the apartment to her room.  
Amy sighed deeply as she watched his back, wishing for her life to stay like this, in this moment forever. She felt the weight of her regular life pressing down on her shoulders as she thought about the normality tomorrow would restore. As these thoughts chased each other around her head, she felt them freeze as Jake pulled her closer into him, forcing her to curl into his warm, solid body. After the momentary panic had died away, she felt herself relax into him, nuzzling her head into the crook of his neck. He switched the channel from the Disney cartoon that was now playing quietly on the screen to an old episode of Property Brothers, holding her close to him as he did so. Contented, she let out a deep breath and closed her eyes, concentrating on Jake’s breathing and the rise and fall of his chest underneath her palm. His hands were smoothing her hair down on her head and his breaths were catching on her eyelashes. She felt truly happy. 

When she woke from her sleep unaware of how much time had passed but was pleased to feel Jake’s warmth seeping into her body. She was always cold. Staring blearily at her phone she read the time: 2AM. It was way too late for Jake to go home now, she thought, not all too unhappy about it.  
Nudging him awake, she gently pulled away to get up and move the two of them to the bedroom.  
“Jake. Jake, come on, we should sleep in an actual bed.”  
All she got in response to that was a sleepy groan at the thought of moving, but with enough gentle elbowing she managed to move them into the comforts of her room. She snuck off to change into some old sweats and an NYPD t-shirt, and a soft smile played on her lips as she saw that Jake had wrapped himself in the many blankets that were layered onto her bed. It only took a split second before she decided it wouldn’t be overly weird if she got in as well, after all they’d just slept together on the couch, which was probably worse anyway. Slipping into the sheets she tried to leave space between her and Jake, but his oddly strong arms pulled her closer into his body. She’d always heard him talking about how he liked to be the little spoon but tucked closely into his firm shape she couldn’t imagine it any other way. It felt nice to be drifting off into the first truly relaxed and comfortable sleep since she’d had Emmy, she hated the thought that tomorrow everything would be back to normal again. Pushing those thoughts to the back off her mind she concentrated on the feeling of his breathing against her neck and the rise and fall of his chest behind her.


	4. Shifting

Her alarm came far too early for her liking, after staying up so late and having to move into the bedroom. Jake’s arm was still wrapped around her stomach, as if he was anchoring her into his reality, and if she had to admit it, she didn’t mind it all that much. After her alarm had been on for a while, she forced herself to lift his arm off her, padding into the bathroom. Peaking her head round the doorframe, that soft smile continued to play on her lips, and she had to remind herself that this wasn’t real, it was just a glimpse into what could have been.  
Leaving the bathroom, she decided it would be best if she let Jake sleep, it was worse at work when he was cranky. She softly trod through to Emmy’s room, she was spending the day at her abuela’s and Amy needed to drop her off before work. This was her favourite part of her day, waking her own little girl up to the world and having a little moment of quiet before the hectic day began.   
“Emmy.” She whispered to the sleeping toddler, causing her to stir. “Emmy, baby it’s time to go to abuelas.”   
She knew this would make the sleepy girl wake up ready for the day, giving Amy an opportunity to think about what Jake’s impromptu visit to her apartment meant, what the glowy feeling in the pit of her stomach whenever he touched her meant. She let Emmy pick out her outfit to avoid any tantrums, there was no doubt about the fact that she and Amy had the same hot-headed streak. So, while she sat and helped her get dressed, she wondered what it would be like if she had someone else there to share the load. Someone she could vent to when Emmy just wouldn’t listen to her or when she felt like she was ruining her. Just someone to hold her and say, “I got you.”   
While she was busy picking out her shoes for the day, Amy went to check on Jake, mostly to see if he was actually awake or whether he had fallen into a coma because wow, that man could sleep. She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to be thinking about what last night meant or not, but she knew that if he was late for work again then Holt would be having some serious words with him.   
“Jake?” An annoyed grunt was the response Amy got from the pile of blankets currently sat on the bed. At least he was upright. “Jake, come on you don’t want to get suspended for being late do you?”  
“Fine.” Still wrapped in blankets he shuffled across to the little bathroom, with Amy making sure he was actually moving before going to brush Emmy’s teeth and pack her bag for the day.   
15 minutes later and the Santiago’s were ready for the day. Emmy was busy telling Amy some non-sensical story about what she was going to do at abuela’s, leaving Amy nodding and asking questions while she sipped her favourite Cuban coffee, that was bound to wake her up. As she was just finishing her cup, a damp Jake Peralta came shuffling into the kitchen, much to Emmy’s delight.   
“Hey, I had to jump in the shower, hope that’s okay?” He said sheepishly, like he was ashamed of it.  
“Yeah of course.” She replied cheerfully, still trying to read his face, trying to see if yesterday was a mistake. “Um, I’ve made some coffee but it’s Cuban and pretty strong so if you don’t think you can- “  
“Yes, yes, yes, yes, give me coffee right now!”  
“Alright.”  
She handed him a small cup of the liquid, black, just how she liked it, and she was looking forward to seeing the inevitable horror on his face as he drank what was basically pure, bitter energy.   
Worth it.  
It made sense for the two of them to go into work together, and it would just be easier for Jake to pick his stuff up on the way back from work anyway, but as they approached her parents house Amy began to realise what it would seem like to her parents when she suddenly brought this man with her. Well, it was too late to back out now.   
“Abuela!” It softened Amy’s heart to see the bond between her daughter and her mother, to see how much love that little girl had for her. This slight distraction caused her to miss the first confused look her mother gave both her and Jake before it was too late.  
“Manana mija, why don’t you go and find your abuelo? I want to talk to your Mami.”  
Shit.  
“Hey Mom,” Amy said, edging back round to the driver’s side of the car. “Thank you so much for helping me out I’ll be back at 6 at the lat- “  
“Amalia Natalia Santiago.”  
Ouch. Full name.  
“Yes Mami?”  
“What is that man doing in your car?”  
“Him? Oh, that’s just Jake, I said I’d give him a lift into work today.”  
“Isn’t that the Jake that you once described as the most immature man you’d ever met?”  
“Um, did I say that? Well, maybe, I can’t remember right now, but, um, we’ve got to go, don’t want to be late for work! Love you Mami, love you Emmy, I’ll see you later! Bye!”   
Wow that was close.  
“Your full name is Amalia Natalia?”  
“Shut up Jake.” Suffice to say she drove away as fast as she could.

It was kind of weird at the precinct. It wasn’t like she’d expected anyone to realise that they’d spent the night together, but absolutely nothing had changed. There was still the same easy-going banter (bickering) between her and Jake as there had been on day one, and Charles was being just as creepy about their relationship as he usually was. Nothing had changed. And yet, deep down, she felt like there had been a shift.


	5. Maybe

Jake’s visits became a common occurrence in the Santiago household, with every joint day they both had off being spent watching cartoons and eating Chinese food with Emmy. In a way, Amy thought it was a way for the both of them to have the kind of family they’d always wanted, and Emmy had grown increasingly attached to Jake. In the beginning this was a major worry for Amy, but she figured that they were just friends, and nothing bad was going to happen in their relationship.   
After about 4 months of them spending every day off together, the precinct finally figured it out, and it wasn’t as big of a deal as she thought it was going to be. Obviously, there was teasing, but other than that there wasn’t much else anyone said.  
“Ugh, Arnie really?” Gina mocked as soon as figured it out. Yes. It was Gina. Of all people. “Mine and Jake’s friendship is little boy holding little girl’s hand and you have the audacity to go after him?”  
“Oh my God! This is perfect! Oh, I am so happy that you two are finally together. Oh, Peraltaigo lives!” Charles’ bone crushing hug was kind of worse than Gina’s mocking. It was only Rosa that remained almost completely impartial to the news.  
“Have you two grab each other’s asses yet?”  
“What?” Amy asked. “What, no we haven’t even kissed Rosa!”  
“Cool. Call me when you grab each other’s asses.” She said, turning on her heel and leaving the crowded breakroom.   
“Diaz can I remind you that we are in a workplace!” Terry called hopelessly after her. 

After everyone else had filed out of the briefing room, Amy caught Jake by the arm, pulling him back in and sitting him next to her at one of the desks.   
“Whoa Ames, what we doing here?”   
“Jake, we need to talk about what we’re doing.” She said sternly, trying to hide the smile and rising heat that happened whenever he called her that. “What are we?”  
“I don’t know Ames.” She could tell he was uncomfortable, he always was when he had to talk about ~emotion~. “We’re just two friends who hang out.”  
“Oh.” Wait, why was she said about that?  
“I mean don’t get me wrong, we’re close. And yeah, I might consider you as more than a friend but that doesn’t mat- “   
“Wait. Stop.” He’d skipped over the last part of his sentence. “What did you just say?”  
“We’re close?”  
“No, after that, the bit about being more than friends?” A dark blush was slowly creeping up his neck and onto his cheeks.  
“Um, well maybe, at some point, I have possibly seen you as more than a friend BUT I know that you don’t want that and I know that you don’t really want anyone throwing themselves into Emmy’s life because it might not last and so judging by the look on your face I should stop talking right now.”  
What was she hearing? Was it possible that he was actually being sincere or was he just joking? No. she knew when he was joking and he had a definite look of disbelief on his face, as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was saying.   
What was her face even doing?  
Snapping back to reality she reached out to grab his arm, desperately trying to stop him walking away, choosing to silently ignore the slight tingling sensation it brought her hand.   
“No, wait, um I – Jake!” Stopping, he slowly turned his face towards hers.   
“What?”  
She snatched her hand back from his arm, rubbing her sweaty palms together and focusing on that. “It wouldn’t be a bad thing you know. Us. I wouldn’t mind if you maybe wanted to throw yourself into Emmy’s life and stay there a while, you know, if you wanted to.”  
She hadn’t realised he’d turned back until she felt the lightness of his hands in her hair, lifting her up to face him. It wasn’t much but the slight gesture made tears start to form behind her eyes, and for once she didn’t care that she was in a work place.  
“Yeah. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.”


	6. Happenings

It felt weird now with her and Jake, but like a good weird. They’d finally agreed on what they were to each other, but they hadn’t actually done anything since then and they were going into a third day of not really talking to each other. It wasn’t that they hadn’t talked to each other, they just hadn’t had any substantial conversations with each other. But today it was Thursday, their joint day off, and as usual Jake was coming round.   
She knew it was Thursday because: A) She’d been counting down the days since Monday when they had their *fateful* conversation, and B) Because Emmy had come bounding into her room at six o’clock that morning shouting “Jakey’s coming! Jakey’s coming!” Apparently, Emmy had become quite attached to her partner. She had to admit she was almost as excited as her daughter, just not with as much energy at – Jesus Christ, 5:53 AM. Well, the day’s got to start at some point.

It was 8:30 AM on the dot when a brisk knock came on their front door. Right on time. It seemed it was only ever Thursday’s when he was actually on time for things.   
“Hi.” Jake said as she opened the door to him leaning on the door frame.   
“Hi.” She responded, trying to ignore the blush creeping up her cheeks. “Well, come on in you know you don’t have to knock anymore.”  
“Yeah, I know, but I thought it would be a nice way to start this new stretch, right?”  
“Yeah, it just felt like the first time you came over her, except this time you actually know that I have a child and it’s not a horrific, stomach dropping surprise for you and a horrible sad moment of clarity for me.”  
“Yep and I have to say that I’m a lot happier knowing about her.” Just at that moment an excitable little girl ran down the corridor, running headlong into Jake’s legs.  
“Speak of the devil!”  
“Hey Em!” Jake said, reaching down and lifting her onto his hip. “What do you want to do today? I’ve brought some movies I think you’d like!”  
“Hmmmm,” Emmy murmured thoughtfully, gently tapping her chin with her finger making Jake and Amy giggle quietly at her thoughtful pose. “Did you bring Tangled?”  
“I have trained you well! Let’s go!”  
“Wait, Jake she’s going to get square eyes if you keep giving her all the films to watch!” Amy shouted hopelessly after the pair as they ran towards the living room and the bean bags Jake had bought them. (They’d caused quite a bit of controversy when Emmy couldn’t decide between the bright blue or the neon pink. Obviously, they didn’t match the colour scheme of the room.)  
As the day passed, a lot faster than Amy would’ve liked it to, she found herself coming out of her cartoon-induced dreamy haze and focusing more on Jake. The closeness of him as they sat curled up against each other, nothing out of the normal for the pair. His fingers were lightly resting on her arm, circling slightly as he hummed along to the Frozen soundtrack. His chin rested on top of her head, the vibrations from his humming was causing a little wind to blow through her hair. In front of them, Emmy was quietly munching on some carrot sticks, her back resting against Jake’s legs.   
Whenever they were like this it made Amy feel like this could work, like her and Jake might not be the worst thing in the world. As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Finally! The Chinese had taken so much longer to get here than usual, or at least it felt like it had. Jake started to get up, dislodging Amy’s head from where it had comfortably been resting on his shoulder.  
“No, it’s fine, I’ll get it.” She said, moving partly because she’d already been disturbed and partly because she didn’t want Jake to move Emmy from where she’d been sitting quietly. As she stood up and walked down the little hallway, she looked back at the two of them. It was a pretty picture. She could definitely get used to it.   
Opening the door caused her to stand in complete silence for a moment.  
“Teddy?”


	7. Confrontations

A cold sweat came over Amy as she stood facing the man who had run away from her all those years ago. Emmy’s dad. What the hell was she supposed to do now?  
“Teddy?”  
“Amy.”  
“Who is it Ames?” Jake asks bounding to the door, leaving Emmy sat on the floor colouring.  
Anxious to avoid confrontation as much as possible, she asked Jake to take Emmy to her room, closing the door to her apartment slightly and stepping outside to talk to Teddy. She heard Emmy squealing, probably chasing after Jake, and she smiled in spite of herself.   
“Who the hell is that?”  
“Uh uh. No. You don’t get to talk. I do.” Amy said, admittedly it was shaky, but she was surprised by how shocked she sounded. “Why are you back? What do you think you’re doing here? How did you even find me?”  
“Whoa, whoa slow down, why are you shout-whispering at me? I thought you’d be happy to see me! I have a right to be here!”  
“Why on earth would I be happy to see you? You ran out and left me to raise our daughter by myself. I was 24. I was scared. And then suddenly I was completely alone. You have no right to be here right now. You have no right to see her and certainly no right to be talking to me. You forfeited that right when you ran away to Boston.”  
Wow. She’d never seen him speechless before. Obviously, he was ‘the most boring man in America’ but that didn’t mean that he never talked.  
“I just-, I just wanted to see you.” He sounded exasperated, like he was the single parent.  
“Well, now you have.” Amy said, still admittedly shaky, but all she wanted to do was curl up with Jake on the sofa and pretend this never happened. “You can go, Teddy.”   
“I thought you were going to get rid of it?”  
“Get rid of what?” Tears were threatening to break now; she knew exactly what was coming.  
“The baby.”  
“The fact that you thought I would go through with that proves exactly why we are not together and why you need to leave. I don’t want you anywhere near my daughter.”  
“She’s my daughter t-“  
“You know what? Yeah, she is. But she has no idea who you are. And you just told me that you wanted me to get an abortion. So maybe biologically that’s correct, but you are not her father.”  
The pair stood in a stunned silence as Amy quietly begged him to leave, to get out of her life once and for all.   
“Can I just come in? I just want to see her.” Teddy whispered, stepping towards Amy, trapping her against the door.  
“No!” Amy shouted. “Get out!”  
“Ames? You alright?” Jake questioned, making her relax slightly. She could feel his tension.  
As soon as Teddy saw Jake he knew the fight was lost, he looked like he might try and fight but instead turned, traipsing down the stairwell, defeated. When she was sure he was out of earshot Amy pulled the two of them back into the apartment, shutting the door behind them, finally taking a deep breath.  
“Hey, where’s Emmy?” She asked, voice cracking, willing the tears to stay put.  
“Oh, I-uh, I put her to bed.” He responded sheepishly, as if he wasn’t sure he was allowed to. “Yeah, she was sleepy, so…”  
“Thank you.” She replied, just above a whisper.  
“Hey, you okay?”  
“Mm-hm.” Not convincing Amy. Not at all.  
“No. You’re not.” That was it. Seeing how well he knew her, how much he cared for Emmy. It was finally time to let her walls down.  
“No. I’m not.”  
It was like coming home, being wrapped up in Jake’s arms like that. The rest of the world could fall away as she focused on his steady heartbeat, the breath that blew wisps of her hair into her face, the way he stroked her arm with his calloused fingers, it all felt right. And safe. And at that moment she realised she didn’t care about anything else any more. She didn’t care that she was probably crying off all her makeup and was probably smearing it all over his shirt. She just knew that this was where she belonged. Huh. Maybe Boyle was right all along.


	8. Relations

It had been a while since ~ The Teddy Incident ~ and Jake and Amy finally had a comfortable rhythm working between them. They were actually a couple. Like actually calling each other babe, and sweetheart, and honey. Not that Amy would admit that her favourite was actually Ames. They’d even managed to keep it a secret from the rest of the precinct since they’d decided to go through with it, not even Charles knew. Managing to get time to themselves away from Emmy was difficult, but that wasn’t to say that they hadn’t had plenty of time to have *intimate* moments with each other. They’d managed to get away from Emmy twice in the past week; a stressful week at work meant stress relieving sex with Jake.   
Honestly, it felt like everything was falling into place for her. Her relationship with Jake was amazing, Emmy loved having him around, and work was great. Her friendships with everyone were going well too, even with Gina and Rosa, two of the most intimidating people she’d ever met. Holt was an amazing mentor, whether he was mentoring her or not, and he was a world away from her mentor at the last precinct: he actually respected her. And today was made all the more exciting because today was Date Night Number 12: Adventure into Thai. It was their 6 month anniversary, and it blew Amy’s mind that she’d been with him for a full 6 months and not even anyone had caught on yet. They were planning on telling everyone later just before their shift ended so thy could escape without too many questions from Charles. They had to hold it together for the next 5 hours and then they’d be free.   
Yeah. That didn’t work out.  
“Charles and I are going out on a stakeout, but I’ll be back before our date, so I’ll see you late babe.” Planting a kiss on her cheek, Jake failed to notice that all the eyes of the precinct were now on them, but Amy had a clear view.  
“Um, Babe?”  
“Yeah?”  
“I don’t think we need to tell everyone anymore.”  
“Why not? You said it was a good idea.” He looked genuinely hurt, and if she were less flustered she would probably feel bad.  
Just then Rosa loudly cleared her throat from behind the pair, and Amy could actually feel Jake’s stomach as he turned around to face their audience. “So, you two grabbed each other’s asses now?”

 

“Alright, I think that’s the last of the boxes Ms. Santiago.”  
“Great, thanks!”   
Taking a deep breath, she breathed out all the stress of the past week. Finally, all their boxes were together in their new apartment. After debating for the past month, they’d found the perfect apartment for the three of them to move into.   
“So, where are going to start with all the mess then babe?” Jake asked, wrapping his arms around Amy’s waist from behind her.  
“Well we have to go and pick Emmy up soon and then it’s a full Santiago family dinner, perhaps we start unpacking tomorrow instead?” From the look on Jake’s face it was pretty clear that he’d totally forgotten that it was going to be everyone of the Santiago’s that night, not just the usual Amy, Emmy, Camilla and Victor.   
“Oh God, I completely forgot I was meeting your brothers tonight! Oh no! And I’m going to be like, properly meeting your parents! Not as like ‘this is my partner’ but as like ‘this is my boyfriend!”  
“Jake stop spiralling, they’re going to love you.” He didn’t look convinced but placed a chaste kiss on her lips before walking straight into what was apparently a very heavy box, judging from the yelp and string of curse words that followed.  
“Ow! Shit! You know, Ames, you’re the only on who’s sure about that!”  
“Well I love you so there’s not much they can do about it.” Amy said, turning to face Jake, who was stood staring at her with the box in his hands. “What?”  
“Did you just say what I think you did?” He asked, a smile creeping onto his lips.  
“Yeah,” she replied, returning his smile, “I guess I did. I love you. But you don’t have to say it back because I know yo- “  
“I love you too.”  
The smiles on both their faces met their eyes, registering the first that was flying round the room. It felt simple, but utterly perfect. Jake gently placed the box down, looking completely starstruck as he gazed at her. She gently padded towards him, looping her arms around his softly muscular torso as he clasped his hands around the nape of her neck.   
“I love you, Jake Peralta.”  
“I love you, Amy Santiago.”


	9. Worry

“Okay. Don’t stress. I’ll be with you the whole time, and if you need to escape, just tell me and I’ll come up with an escape plan.”   
They were currently sat in the car just outside the Official Santiago Residence™, and Jake was silently freaking out, which Amy was currently trying to contain before it got too bad.   
“What if they don’t like me?” He whispered, and she could kill Roger Peralta for making Jake ever feel like he wasn’t good enough.  
“It doesn’t matter, because I love you, and that should be all that matters.” She said, cupping his face in her hands, smiling slightly as she said those three words. She gently pulled him closer, placing a kiss on his forehead, telepathically reassuring him that she was there, and that was enough.  
“Mama come on!” Snapping her back to reality was Emmy, too excited to wait and see her family any longer.  
“Okay baby, let’s go.” As their foreheads parted Jake brushed his lips against hers, and she couldn’t help the tingly feeling that ran through her as he did so.  
With Emmy holding on to one of each of their hands, the went quietly up to Amy’s child hood home, and already they could hear the raucous from inside, probably caused by the many Santiago’s that were congregated inside. They let Emmy ring the doorbell, the little girl bouncing up and down with excitement while Amy weaved her finger through Jake’s desperately trying to calm some of his nerves.   
“Abuela!” Emmy excitedly shouts, bouncing up in Camilla Santiago’s arms. “Where’s Abuelo and Tio David and Tio Manny and Tio Luis and Tio-“  
“Okay Emmy, why don’t you go inside and find them while Jake and I talk to Abuela.” Amy said, ushering her daughter inside.  
“Hallo mija, it’s so good to see you! I hope the drive wasn’t too bad?” Camilla asks as she kisses Amy on the cheek and pulls her into a bone crushing hug.   
“No, it was fine. We had plenty of snacks and Taylor Swift to keep us company, didn’t we Jake?”   
“Um, yep! There wasn’t even that much traffic!” Amy gently squeezed his hand, sensing his nerves.  
“Ah, Jake.” Bit judgy, but hey, not the worst reaction to see her boyfriend in his official capacity. “How are you? I trust you’re taking good care of my girls?”  
“Oh, yes. Treating them right!”   
“Well come in! It’s freezing outside!”  
“Good job,” Amy whispered in his ear, “Just say hi to my dad and then we’re golden.”  
“Gotcha.” He replied, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips, momentarily dislodging the worry from his face.  
The meeting with her dad actually went better than she thought it would, both of them shaking hands and saying hello, nothing particularly out of the ordinary, but it still filled Amy with relief. Her brothers were kind of annoying, as usual, all asking how the ‘youngest Santiago sibling’ had managed to find herself a boyfriend.  
“Shut up Carlos! You’re not even that much older than me!”  
“One year still counts Ames!”  
“Yeah and I still don’t understand how the baby of the family has managed to end up with a baby of her own?”  
“Ugh, David she’s nearly 4, she’s not a baby anymore.”  
“Yeah, I’m a big girl!” Thank god Emmy knows exactly when to save her mom and distract her uncles from grilling her.  
As her brothers turned their attention to the many nieces/nephews/children in the room, Amy lent back into Jake, breathing a sigh of relief as he was steady and firm behind her back. She’d forgotten how many people were actually in her family, and how crazy it could get when everyone was there. She glanced over at her brother Alex, and his very pregnant wife Maria, as he was gently whispering something into her ear, probably trying to ask her a question over the chaos. They were so in love. She thought she’d found that with Teddy, but now, she was sure she’d found that with Jake. She loved him to the ends of the earth, and she knew he felt the same. They hadn’t outright said it, hell they’d only said ‘I love you’ that day, but it was evident in the little things. It was there in the way he got up first to be with Emmy when she had a nightmare. It was there when he came home with her favourite order from her favourite Chinese take away when she’d felt so nauseous, she couldn’t move. It was there every minute of every day. And she wanted for every day to be forever. With Jake.   
“Okay! Dinner’s ready!”


	10. Meetings

After they’d eaten, they crammed themselves back into the living room, putting on a cartoon to distract the younger children as the older ones wander off into one of the bedrooms upstairs. Jake and Amy had managed to grab themselves a corner of a couch, and as Jake sat with his arm leaning on the side, Amy curled herself into him, her head resting in the crook of his neck. It still amazed her how easily they slotted together, like they were made for each other.  
Everyone was in that happy, post-food haze, giving plenty of time for Amy to just relax into Jake, and enjoy the comfort that feeling his heartbeat beneath her hand could bring her. She glanced up, looking into his eyes, revelling in the warm brown depths. His were often so dark they looked inky, but now, the golden sunlight made them brilliant and clear, like worn sea glass turned over in the ocean. He often told her that he thought his eyes were boring, a generic common brown, that hers were much more beautiful, that they were copper against honey and sage, but his had a depth to them that was so warm and filled her with contentment every time she looked at him.  
“What are you looking at weirdo?” He asked, scoffing slightly at her awestruck expression.  
“Nothing.” She replied. He already knew how much she loved his eyes but saying that aloud in front of her entire family wasn’t something she wanted to do. No. That was for moments when it was only them. “What are you looking at?”  
“Just Emmy and the other kids. I still can’t believe I get to be a part of her life.” He said reverently, making her probe further.  
“What do you mean?” She whispered, sinking back down to nuzzle her head into his neck.  
“I just never thought I’d be a part of a kid’s life.” He murmured, so quiet Amy had to strain to hear him over the hum of the room. “I mean, I’ve always wanted kids, but I still don’t know how I got so lucky to meet you two.”  
She couldn’t help the smile that stretched across her lips. “Do you ever wonder if you’d want one?”  
“One what?”  
“You know, a kid?” She asked hesitantly. It was way too early to be having this conversation.  
“Yeah. Probably. Actually, definitely. With the right person. Which is 100% you, if that’s okay?”  
“Really?”  
“Really.” He replied, kissing her gently on top of her head as he pulled her tighter into his side.   
It wasn’t a case of wanting them right now, but she’d always thought that having another kid would not only be a good thing for her, but for Emmy as well. All she babbled about now was babies, whether it was because she was playing with her dolls or because she’d visited her new cousin. But sat there, quiet in the hum of conversation surrounding them, warmed by the fire and with Jake’s arm snaked around her shoulders, she couldn’t think of a time she’d wanted one more. And she was 28, they had plenty of time.  
It was nearing midnight when the Santiago clan finally caved and went up to bed, all returning to childhood bedrooms now crowded with their children and spouses. She was thankful Jake was too tired to properly understand that he was now in her childhood bedroom, instead collapsing face first onto the mattress in front of him. With a sigh, Amy tucked Emmy into the makeshift camp bed on the floor before clambering into bed with Jake, wrapping herself up in his warmth. Usually he liked to be the little spoon, but sometimes she managed to sneak into his arms and steal the position for herself. Sleep took her quickly as she listened to the steady breathing of Jake and Emmy surrounding her, falling into a deep sleep.

They were officially two weeks out from Christmas when they left the next day and would be returning soon to spend the holidays with Amy’s family. Jake looked significantly less anxious than he had done mere hours ago, knowing now that he was relatively comfortable around the rest of the Santiago’s. For now, though, they got to return to the dark comfort of their apartment.   
Emmy was sleeping soundly with her head resting on Jake’s shoulder as they walked up the flights of stairs to her apartment, trying to muffle the sounds of their footsteps in the echoey staircase, desperately trying to reach Emmy’s bedroom before she woke up. The click of the key in the lock was a welcome sound, and Jake quickly tip toed through to Emmy’s room to get her settled and in bed. As he did so Amy couldn’t help but smile. He was already such a good dad, and she couldn’t wait to see what he’d be like from the start. She was rhythmically and methodically working her way through preparing a cup of hot cocoa each, she didn’t dare give Jake any caffeine after 9pm unless she wanted what resembled a hyperactive toddler in her bed with her all night.   
She was just placing the two mugs, one filled to the brim with whipped cream and marshmallows, just how he liked it, as Jake was gently shutting the door to Emmy’s room and padding down to hallway to fall into the soft leather beside her.   
“Out like a light,” He said, reaching forwards and scooping a dollop of cream off the top of his mug.  
“Good,” Amy replied, “Spending time with her cousins always wears her out. I think it’s the excitement, but it could be the force feeding my mom does.” She said chuckling to herself.  
“Yeah, your mom kept telling me to eat more and that I’m a growing boy, not a 31 year old man. It was nice though cos your mom’s food is like heaven on a plate.”  
“I agree, just don’t let her hear you say that or well be getting deliveries for months.”  
“Would that be a bad thing though?” He asked her, a doubtful look on his face.  
“What’s that supposed to mean?”  
“Well, you’re willing admit that you are not the best cook in the world,” He replied, cautious, but joking all the same. Amy had to repress the bubbling laugh so she wouldn’t wake her daughter. “Honestly it’s a miracle you haven’t killed yourself or Emmy yet.”  
“Says the man who can’t boil an egg.”  
“Says the woman who thought salt and baking powder were the same thing.”  
“They are!”  
“Just because they are both white powders does not mean they are the same thing!”  
This was what she loved. Their easy-going banter that would quickly dissolve into quick kisses because they went to bed, comforted by the others breaths as they fell into the steady rhythm of sleep.


End file.
